I hope I didn't made you guys wait that long, but on the bright side I had some time to work on this chapter. It took a lot of thought and looking a back at the other chapters, but I think you might find this chapter very interesting. Enjoy!
Sakura won her match with Temari and Sasuke's match with Gaara is coming up next. Asuma and Kurenai are growing suspicious with Kom as Ino and Hinata are hiding something from them. Not to mention that the two Ichiba brothers were gone, but the third one is…
Sakura left the arena and up the stairs, and Naruto left the group and down stairs; Sasuke followed him. Just when Sakura was almost there to the group she heard,
"Hello, Sarla" she looked up and saw Racarsu leaning against the wall. She smiled,
"Racarsu" she said then they embrace into each others arms.
Naruto and Sasuke are on they're way down, Naruto spotted Sakura,
"Way to go Sakura-chan I knew you could win, you were ama…eh" he stopped so does Sasuke as they both saw Racarsu holding Sakura's waist.
Sakura turned and saw her teammates,
"Naruto! Sasuke! I didn't see you guys there" she smiled.
"We just got here" Sasuke said,
"Yeah…we're here to congratulate for your match Sakura" Naruto kept his cool.
"Oh thanks you guys, that's sweet" Sakura said then Racarsu and she are apart from each others arms. Naruto and Sasuke looked straight at Racarsu,
"Err! I thought he and his clones left the village" Naruto thought,
"Why he's even doing here any way?" Sasuke thought.
"Good to see you guys again" Racarsu said,
"Yeah…good to see you too" Naruto gave him a fake smile,
"Hey" Sasuke looked away.
"Say Racarsu, why are you still here? I thought you and your clo…I mean, your brothers left the village" Naruto asked.
"We were then we decided to stay to give you guys support. Also Sarla's aunt invited us to help Sarla with her training" Racarsu explained. Naruto and Sasuke heard what he said and clutched their fists with anger.
"So I can't wait to watch your match Sasuke, I sure hope you win" Racarsu said,
"Yeah…thanks" Sasuke said lowering down his anger.
"Say Racarsu, you want to stay with Naruto and me while watching Sasuke's match?" Sakura asked. Naruto looked surprised and prayed that he'll say no.
"I would love to but I have to go find Racardu, Racarnu and Erlu-sensei" he answered.
"Your sensei's here? I haven't seen her for a long time, how is she?" Sakura asked,
"Well…same old same old, but she's approving well on her anger management class this year" Racarsu answered.
"Good to know, will you tell her I said hi for me" Sakura said,
"Will do" he said. He turned to Naruto and Sasuke still standing,
"I'll see you guys later then" he smiled.
"Sure" Naruto said sarcastically,
"Whatever" Sasuke said still looking away then Racarsu left them.
"Say Sakura" Naruto said, she turned to him,
"Yes Naruto" she said,
"Who is this Erlu lady you know about?" he asked.
"Oh, you mean Erlu Mushima, she's a Jounin from the village hidden the Mountains where the Ichiba brothers live. She use to be on the same team with my aunt a long time ago but they're still close friends. Erlu's not a bad person once you get to know her" Sakura explained.
"Though I'm not so sure when he mentioned about her anger issues" Sasuke said with his arms folded,
"Well…she had a few ups and downs but I'm sure she'll come around" Sakura said.
Upstairs, away from the crowd at the hallway…
"I told you eating one of those Hospital foods was a bad idea" Tenten said while walking next to Lee with his crutch; of his bandage leg and arm after his fight with Gaara back at the Preliminaries. They just got left the restroom,
"I know but I thought they might change the taste of their meal this time" Lee said,
"Come on Lee, like they'll ever change their meal this time of year they just have to…" Tenten stopped when she heard some people coming.
Lee heard it too as he stopped they turn from behind and sense three people coming their way.
"Come on Lee" Tenten helped Lee hide behind a wall at the corner of the hallway so they won't be seen.
Around the corner of the hallway…
"Okay, have we gone over the plan?" Racarsu asked when he and his brothers appeared, walking at the other corner of the hallway. Tenten and Lee are still hiding and listened to their conversation.
"Yes me and Racarnu will cover the east and the west of the wall, while you and sensei covered the north and south wall" Racardu answered.
"Good, because of what Lady Kom told us about their plan it's up to us to make sure that won't happen" Racarsu said.
Hiding in the corner…
"It's the Ichiba brothers, what are they up to?" Lee whispered,
"I don't know but they said something about some…plan" Tenten whispered. They took a peek and saw the brothers standing about a few steps close to them.
"We have to stay quiet so they won't hear us" Tenten whispered,
"Got it" Lee whispered.
Hallway…
"But what will happen if they did something we won't see it coming?" Racarnu asked,
"In case you forgotten when it comes to invasion Erlu-sensei will take care of that, you know how she is when she beats up people" Racardu answered.
"Speaking of Erlu-sensei, where is she? She should to be here by now" Racasu said.
Corner…
"Did they say something about an invasion?" Lee whispered in shock,
"They sure have and I don't think I want to stick around any longer" Tenten whispered in shock too.
"Same here" Lee whispered, they both turned leaving,
"We better get out of here before…Oofff!"
Tenten and Lee bumped into something hard, fell backwards and land to the floor. They looked up and saw that something they bumped into is someone.
A woman with blackish-brown short hair has two orange-red eyes and wearing red lipstick. Wearing a master's uniform with long sleeves and has the color white with red lines; also wearing gray pants that match her platform shoes.
She looked who bumped into her, made an angry look on her face as if she is not in a good mood. She bent down a bit with her hands on her hip and glare at the injured boy and the kuniochi.
"Erlu-sensei" the Ichiba brothers appeared when they heard something at the corner, she heard her students but didn't took her eyes of the other two.
"It would of appears that we have ourselves two rats out of the open" Erlu said when she stood up straight and folded her arms.
"Shit! I was hoping we wouldn't get caught" Tenten thought,
"Man, this woman is scary…" Lee thought then he looked at he eyes "and her eyes…it's as if she's about to take out someone."
"Well…aren't you going to explain why you're here?" Erlu said Tenten quickly helped Lee get up with his crutch.
"We are so sorry about that, we didn't see you there. My friend and I were on our way…back to the hospital" Tenten lied.
Erlu raised her left eye-brow,
"You are?" she asked, Lee looked at her confused
"We are?" he asked.
"Of course Lee, I know how much you love their food" Tenten lied,
"But early you said…Ooff!" Tenten elbowed his chest to shut him up. Then Lee finally gets what she's doing so he played along,
"Oh…yes, I do love their meals very much" he lied and smiled,
"Very much" Tenten did the same. Erlu still glaring at them not saying anything while those two slowly walking away backwards.
"Plus my friend is in a very bad condition, so I'll just take him back to the hospital where he belongs" Tenten said,
"Yes, back so I can have their delicious food" Lee lied.
"We'll be leaving now so bye" Tenten said, just when they were about to escape they bumped into something from behind.
They turned and saw Erlu appeared behind them, they were shocked as they stood still.
"B-but how…? You were…" Tenten stuttered,
"Hospital food my ass!" Erlu said with anger in her eyes.
"I know you two heard everything of what we're up to, so I'll make myself clear to you that neither of you must tell this to no one about our plan, understand?" Erlu said.
"W-we didn't mean to ease-drop, we were on our way to…" Lee said then Tenten interrupted,
"Why are you telling us to keep quiet about this? What invasion are you people talking about any way?" Tenten said with demand.
The Ichiba brothers stood silent for they didn't expect anyone to know about the invasion.
"I guess I didn't make myself clear enough" Erlu said she sticks out 2 fingers from both hands; placed them under their chins and at the moment they were no longer touching the floor.
"You two better keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you" Erlu said,
"But if we refuse?" Tenten asked,
"I think you know that answer" Erlu answered. Tenten looked confused until she led her eyes to the floor, except there's no longer a floor but a ground; about 25 ft below her and Lee.
They hearts were racing as if they were about to be dropped, they looked back at Erlu as she said,
"Speak this to no one or I'll make sure you'll never speak again, do you understand now" Erlu asked.
"Sir, yes sir" Lee said and solute, Erlu became angry and yelled,
"I'M A WOMAN!" Lee reversed and said
"Mama, yes mama."
"Now beat it!" she said and threw them back to the floor,
"Don't mention this to anyone…especially you little girl" Erlu looked at Tenten while she helped Lee up.
Tenten did the same then she took Lee and both left without saying a word.
"Must you always be short-tempered Erlu?" a voice came from the corner, Erlu had both hands behind her back,
"And must you always be self-minded, Kom?" she said.
Kom stepped out of the corner into the open looking at Erlu and her team,
"Lady Kom" the Ichiba brothers said at the same time.
"Hello boys…Erlu" Kom said,
"Kom" Erlu said.
"I saw how you settled with those two back there, though I'm not so sure about when you were about to…drop them out of the stadium" Kom said,
"Well those brats should know better than to ease-drop other people's conversation…especially when it comes to the invasion" Erlu said.
"I understand" Kom said,
"And aren't you supposed to be in position for the operation?" Erlu asked,
"I already am that's why I'm here to let you know I'm more than ready to foil their plan in this invasion" Kom said.
"My team and I are about to head out and wait for their signal and by that time…" Erlu said,
"I'll stay to counter spies and other ninjas who are here" Kom said,
"And protect Sarla" Kom thought.
"Since we know what are our position is, we're off" Erlu said,
"Very well then…and by the way…I heard you're approving well on your anger issues this year" Kom smiled under her mask.
Erlu twitched her eye-brows a bit,
"Of course…" she said,
"Good to hear…Ta!" Kom said and disappeared into violet petals.
Erlu turned to her students,
"Alright Ichibas, let's go" she said,
"Right" they all said. They were about to leave until a man came in the way,
"Oh excuse me, do you by any chance know where the bathroom is?" he asked. Erlu became disturbed and impatient, so she grabbed his shirt lift him off the floor and yelled,
"OUT OF OUR WAY!!"
Then she threw the man out of the way and out of the stadium,
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" he screamed while falling to the ground.
"Let's go" she said with anger then her and the Ichiba brothers finally left.
Close to the other groups…
Sakura and Naruto are on their way back to the group to watch Sasuke's match, then
"AAAAAHHHH!!" the man still screaming on his way down and passed them. (Then finally hit the ground.)
Sakura stopped at that moment, Naruto saw her and asked
"What's the matter Sakura-chan?" Sakura looked around and back to him,
"I could've sworn I heard someone screaming" she answered.
"It must be the crowd cheering for the next match, we better hurry" Naruto said then they hushed to the group.
Arena…
The match is a bout to begin,
"The next match are…Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara" Jounin said. The crowds are cheering loud and the royals and other famous people are ready for judgment.
Gaara is standing ready for the match to start then he led his eyes towards the group where Sakura is. He saw her next to Naruto also waiting for the match to start,
Flashback…
"My name is Sakura Haruno, a pleasure to meet you" she answered with a friendly smile.
Flashback over…
"Sakura Haruno" he thought.
Sasuke looked at Gaara while he's looking up to the group he raised his left eye-brow and wondered,
"What's he up to?" he thought. Then Sasuke looked up and saw his teammates there but mostly looked at Sakura looking down at him.
Flashback…
"Why won't you tell me damn it?" he asked as he glared at her,
"As I told you before, it's none of your concern; you've know too much about my life…" Sakura said
Flashback over…
"I'm not through with you yet Sakura" he thought then waits for the match to start.
Seats…
"Ino-chan what took you so long? You missed the last match, what happened?" Choji asked when Ino got back to her seats.
"Sorry about that Choji, apparently that talk I had with Ms. Kom took a little longer than I expect" Ino said.
"Well, even though you missed Sakura's match you're just in time for Sasuke's" Choji said after opening up more chips.
"Right…of course…don't you think Racard…" Ino turned and saw that Racardu is no longer here. She turned back to Choji and asked,
"Choji what happened to Racardu?" Choji rolled his eyes,
"Oh…him" he thought.
"For some reason he suddenly left after you left with Ms. Kom" he answered,
"Do you know where he is?" she asked,
"No I don't, sorry" he answered and munched some chips.
"Oh…I was going to ask him if he wants to come join us at the Buffet after the Chuunin Exam is over" Ino said.
"'Sigh' Oh well" she thought then Choji gripped and crushed his chips when Ino tried to invite Racardu,
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" he thought deeply.
"Jerk" he mumbled,
"What's that?" Ino asked,
"Nothing" he lied then munched more chips in his mouth.
Other seats…
"There you are Hinata, what took you? You missed the rest of the match" Kiba said when Hinata took her seat.
"Oh…sorry Kiba…I didn't mean to make you and…Arkamaru worried" Hinata said,
"No sweat Hinata, luckily you're just in time for the next match" Kiba said,
"Ruff" Arkamaru barked.
"I see" Hinata said then she turned to the next seat beside and saw Racarnu is no longer there, she turned back to Kiba,
"Um…Kiba, where's Racarnu?" she asked.
Kiba twitchted his eye-brows a bit when she mention Racarnu,
"Man…I was hoping has forgot about him" he thought.
"Actually, he left after you left I don't know where he went" he answered.
"Oh…I was going ask him…if he can walk home with us after this" she said,
"Oh well" she thought.
Kiba growled a bit, so did Arkamaru
"I DON'T THINK SO!" he thought deeply. Hinata heard him growling so she asked,
"Something the matter…Kiba?" Kiba quickly calmed down,
"Oh sorry Hinata, I'm just…excited that the next match is going to start" he lied.
"Oh" she said then they turn and watch the other two ninjas ready to fight.
Other seats…
"Sarla told me all there is to know about Sasuke Uchiha" Kom said,
"Well you'll be surprise of what he'll do in this match" Kakashi said,
"Maybe…maybe not" Kom said. Kakashi led his eyes to her with suspicion then back to Sasuke.
"Even though that your student has the bloodline of the Gekkai Kenkai, it doesn't make him powerful as he'd hope…along with his clan" Kom explained,
"What is she talking about?" Kakashi thought.
"There's more to the Sharingan than you'll ever expect; its strategy, its abilities…its weakness" she explained then Kakashi felt stunned,
"It has a weakness?" he thought.
"Though I'm not so sure why I'm telling you this, usually I always keep things to myself. Unfortunately when it comes competition and fights, I couldn't help but talk about them or what not" she said. Kakashi raised his left eye-brow while looking at her,
"I said too much have I?" she blushed a little, Kakashi shrugged a bit and shook his head,
"Oh no…no you haven't, I can see that you're enjoying yourself and I find it very natural" he said.
"Thanks" Kom giggled a bit but in surprise she found out his hand was placed on her hand.
Kakashi just found out and quickly removed his hand from hers they looked away from each other blushing.
"Psst, Kakashi" Kakashi heard his name, he turned and saw Gai whispering to him
"Could you ask her if she has friend?" Gai whispered.
"No" Kakashi whispered backed,
"Come on Kakashi, don't tell me you never ask out a woman before" Gat said.
"Let's say I was busy doing other things than to think about having a relationship" Kakashi said,
"I know that but would it kill you just to ask her on a date, like maybe go out for a dinner perhaps?" Gai asked.
Kakashi took a minute to think about it,
"Well…I guess one date wouldn't hurt" he said,
"That's the spirit let the power of youth emerge, ask her out" Gai said.
Kakashi took a deep breath and cleared his throat a bit and said to Kom,
"I was wondering…after this is over…maybe you want to have dinner with me" he slowly turned to her, but she was no longer there. Though, he saw a man looking at him strangely,
"Thanks for the offer but I'm afraid you're not my type" the man said then he got out of the seat and left.
Kakashi felt shocked and embarrassed at the same time then he looked down at the seat next him and saw a violet flower.
"It's that same flower as before…she did take Sakura out of the hospital last month…what she up to…? Where did she?" he thought. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned to Gai and he asked,
"So does she have a friend?" Kakashi covered his eye with his hand and sighed,
"Just great" he thought deeply.
Arena…
"If you two ready to fight…" the Jounin said while looking at Sasuke and Gaara at their fighting stance,
"…then you begin!" he said and quickly got out of the way.
"Show me what you got Uchiha" Gaara said while his sand were out from his Guru and surrounded him, Sasuke smirked,
"I won't hold back" he said when he activated his Sharingan and began to fight.
I going to have to stop here because I don't want to get all of them in this chapter and my sister needs the computer. So I hope you liked it, if yes, review to me about while I try to update the other chapter as soon as I can. Later!
